Standin’ on the corner….
This is my last Director’s Corner for the Hylton Center newsletter. As many of you know, I’ve been standing on this proverbial corner as your Executive Director role since the summer of 2011, just a year after the opening of the most beautiful performing arts center in the Mid-Atlantic region. I was kind of an emergency hire, necessitated when our first Executive Director, the wonderful Jean Kellogg, got an offer she couldn’t refuse, to lead the Merola Opera Program, a prestigious professional training company that operates in close collaboration with the San Francisco Opera.
I’d spent the past 20 years at George Mason University managing various things at various times (a theater company and department, our Center for the Arts in Fairfax, a section of the Provost’s Office, and for one year the entire Institute of the Arts, which was the fertile soil in which our College of Visual and Performing Arts took root in 2001)—and I had been closely involved with the planning of the “Community Performing Arts Center” from the beginning, so I guess they thought I wouldn’t mess it up too badly.
Jumping on to a moving train in 2011 was busy, challenging, and incredibly joyful, as we created new programs, including the Hylton Family Series, Matinee Idylls, American Roots, the Veterans and the Arts Initiative, and the Education Initiative; grew the audience; worked with our local and regional partners to better meet their needs; and planted the seeds (apologies for another gardening metaphor, but I always enjoy getting my hands dirty, no matter what the job) for what became the Education and Rehearsal Wing, opening in December 2019 and now an indispensable part of the Center’s life.
Something that not everyone knows is this: The Hylton Center opened its doors with a structural deficit of about $500,000 per year, because the partners (Manassas, Prince William County, and George Mason University) had agreed (very wisely, in my opinion) back in 2006 to proceed with construction before a previously required $15 million endowment was in place. The university agreed to cover the deficits while we committed ourselves to a “glideslope” approach to landing a balanced annual operating budget, and putting our shoulders to the wheel on fundraising, too, to reach the original (and still vitally necessary) $15 million endowment goal.
As of this spring, both of those milestones have been achieved—the balanced budget a couple of years ago and the endowment target just last month—thanks to the hard work of our staff in all departments, our university and community partners, and an extra special thanks to YOU for stepping up as patrons, donors, and advocates. We would not be here (we should not be here) without your support and participation and warm embrace. I feel much better about leaving the E.D. role to my successor with those boxes checked.
So why am I stepping…not exactly down, but aside? In May of 2015, I had the great honor of being appointed Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, succeeding our Founding Dean, Bill Reeder, whom many of you know from his tireless efforts to raise funds and friends for the Hylton Center. We thought I could muddle through a few months of two-hat service as Dean and Executive Director (never mind Professor of Theater—that’s always been a given!) while a search for a new Hylton Exec played out.
But then…a closer look at the budget revealed that this would be inadvisable—your favorite performing arts center was still running annual deficits at the time and we couldn’t afford to add to that. Search suspended. A few more years, same idea, same result, but this time it was the entire university’s budget that signaled caution and put our plans on hold.
So…I have had the unique pleasure of wearing these two stylish baseball caps, Dean and Executive Director, simultaneously for almost eleven years now, and I have to say I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything in the world. The reason it has worked is that the Hylton Center staff is simply stellar. Across every layer of this group of dedicated professionals, folks have been stepping up to fill any gaps the Dean creates, and making sure that the Executive Director looks like he knows what he’s doing. This is no small feat, and we (they) almost always pull it off!
This time, though, the budget held, the search went forth, and my successor is in the building. I am thrilled to let you know that, after an exhaustive national search led by AMorrison Consulting, we found the ideal new E.D. right down the hall. Carolyn Hays will assume the role on May 10. Carolyn has served us with energy, distinction, and tremendous success for the last two years as director of development, during which time she has proven her commitment to the mission, vision, and operations of the Hylton Center, and built strong relationships both internally and externally.
Her appointment represents both a reassuring continuity of operations, in partnership with our exceptional professional staff and volunteer community, and a most welcome opportunity to think anew about the ways in which the Hylton Center goes about its business, the kind of services it provides to its several communities, and its long-range artistic profile as a leading venue for the arts, education, and community engagement in the greater Manassas, Prince William, and Northern Virginia regions.
Carolyn brings a wealth of experience as a manager and development professional, in fields ranging from health care to arts councils to cultural and arts organizations large and small. Her career has included meaningful engagements with some of the DMV's most prominent organizations, such as Washington National Opera, Washington Performing Arts, and the Smithsonian National Zoo. She holds a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from the University of Wyoming (yes, another singing E.D., but this one actually has a credential), and a master's in non-profit business management/arts administration from Florida State University. She has taught arts leadership and management for the University of Houston and George Mason University.
I’ll still be Dean of CVPA—and a full-time Dean, too, for the very first time—and Carolyn, poor soul, still reports to me, so I will remain closely involved with, and present at, this place I love so much.
One of the things I’ve loved is sharing this “Director’s Corner” with you in the last almost 37 editions of the Hylton newsletter, going back to 2021. I’ll miss this opportunity to think out loud about artists, community, language, music, snowstorms, the inner workings of the Hylton Center, and the other random thoughts-on-deadline that you’ve been kind enough to read. If you have absolutely nothing better to do or need a natural sleeping aid, I invite you to take a stroll through Hylton history with me: just follow this link and click away. I look forward, as always, to your thoughts.
In the meantime, silence your cell phone, locate the nearest exit, and…look for the guy in the baseball cap, standing on the corner.
I’ll see you in the theater.
Rick Davis
Dean